This invention relates to lighting systems for off-road land vehicles for illuminating the terrain in proximity of the axles and wheels of the vehicles for night viewing of terrain obstacles. The new lighting system is incorporated into the differential housing for drive wheels of the off-road vehicles.
Head lamps or lights, fog lights, and back-up lights may be incorporated on or in the body/chassis of land vehicles, including off-road vehicles such as heavy duty pickup trucks, trucks and equipment, and sport utility vehicles (SUVs). These off-road vehicles often have extra ground clearance, sturdy tires, and front and rear locking differentials with housings. Off-road vehicles may often include four wheel drive vehicles. One example of use of off-road vehicles is for Rock Crawling for which vehicles are typically modified with larger than stock tires, suspension components that allow greater axle articulation and terrain separation distance and changes in the differential gear ratio in order to provide the ideal high torque/low speed operation for traversing obstacles. A rock crawler vehicle may have a spotter or an assistant who will go on foot along side of or in front of the vehicle to provide information to the driver on obstacles or areas of terrain that the driver may not be able to see.
For night operation or driving, whether for Rock Crawling or other rough terrain vehicle use, there is often a need for illumination in the proximity of the axles, differentials and wheels/tires for a driver or spotter to view obstacles in order for a vehicle to progress in an off-road environment. There is a need for mounting of lamps, light-emitting devices and the liked under land vehicles for night off-road operation.